11 Ways To Spring Clean Your Mind

Spring cleaning isn't just about removing the excess junk from your home — spring cleaning your mind this time of year is equally as important. This is a time for shedding the weight of unnecessary tangible items, saying goodbye to toxic people, and freeing your brain from unproductive thought processes. It's a time to let go of whatever has not made your life happier, and make room for all the things that could. It's kind of like making New Year's resolutions all over again. We all had the best of intentions come January 1, and we wrote down all of our impressive goals for 2015. But then winter spent the next three months filling our lives and hearts with icy madness, and our goals took a backseat to the heavy SADness we were trying to resist.

Luckily, winter is about to meet its melty death, and we can soon dance on its grave cloaked in pastel colors and pretty spring dresses. But before we can fully embrace the new season and all of its blooming new life, we need to get our own lives in order. The first place to start your spring cleaning endeavors is surprisingly not under your bed — it's inside your mind. A clear headspace is the perfect blank slate to get you ready to remove all the items in your house you no longer need. Here are some ways to spring clean your mind before you spring clean your room.

1. Write letters to everyone and everything you hate (but don't send them)

Let it all out on paper, read the letters aloud, and then throw them away. Actually sending them would be a bad idea, but you don't even need to do that in order to reach the emotional resolution you've been seeking.

2. Don't meditate, just breathe

Whenever I tell myself I'm going to meditate for at least five minutes each day, it never happens. But when I go into thinking all I need to do is just take deep breaths in and out for a few minutes? Easy peasy. Meditation is just focused breathing with an intense name, so take the name away, and you can totally make time for it.

3. Pound the pavement

Running isn't always fun, but it's amazing when you have pent up stress. All you need is a pair of sneakers, a little Britney Spears pouring out through your headphones, and any stress you've been holding onto will exit your body through each powerful stride.

4. Listen to the rain

There's nothing more calming than the sound of raindrops landing on a roof. But if you live in a place with zero weather changes (like I do in California), rainy days are few and far between. It's OK though, because there's RainyMood.com, a site that will help you set the scene.

5. Take a nap

There is no problem on Earth that a solid nap can't solve. At the very least, you get to take a break from everything and return with a fresh perspective.

6. Binge-watch your way to zen

When I need clarity, motivation, or wisdom, I turn to my favorite fictional family on Parks and Recreation. Seeing Ron Swanson wandering around Scotland makes me feel whole. Seeing Leslie kick ass and take names in the public park system makes me feel like I can achieve anything and everything. So turn on your favorite show, even if it's just background noise, and let their back-to-back shenanigans guide you to inner peace.

7. Do something creative

Knit a scarf, bake a pie, paint a picture — just do something using the creative part of your brain. You can totally suck at whatever it is and still reach the feeling of accomplishment and enlightenment.

8. Share those feels

Talk it out with your bestie over beers and burgers. Because together, those three things fill your heart with joy. And venting to the person who knows you best means getting a fresh perspective on a problem you've been unable to solve, probably leading you to a solution.

9. Take a YouTube break

A compilation of interspecies friendships will forever have the power to make you feel like anything is possible.

10. Clear the physical junk

While it's best to enter any situation with a clear head first, sometimes you just need to roll up your sleeves and dig in. If your head is still feeling foggy after trying everything above, then maybe the problem is the clutter itself. Remove the physical clutter, and your mind will follow.

11. When all else fails, turn to Queen Bey

Because she knows all.

Image: Neil Crump/Flickr; Giphy (11)